Tuesday, April 17, 2007

A tragedy in Virginia

What a sad day at Virginia Tech. What a sad day for our country. It's hard enough for us as adults to deal with these type of events, but how do we help our kids deal with it?

Feel free to blog with us about one or more of the following questions:

What have you told your kids about the event?

How have your kids responded?

Have you watched the news coverage with your kids around?

How much do you want us at Smile FM to talk about it when these type of events happen??

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us! Jenn & George

1 comment:

Breeze said...

Uugh. I didn't want to say anything to my oldest, who is six but I decided that if she was going to hear anything, I wanted her to hear it from ME b/c I won't glorify the tragedy.

We have a book at home that's edited by the Maryknoll Sisters -- pretty old but good in a traditional way. It's got a story in it about a little boy who gets tempted by "Pong, a mean and stupid devil". Given the choice, he doesn't behave but listens to Pong and sins. His guardian angel is very saddened by this but, ultimately, it is the boy's choice.

There is nothing Satan would love more than to have lots of company down in Hell. He rejoices when we sin and distance ourselves from God. He loves despair, hopelessness, pain and terror. He'll do anything to encourage it in our lives.

All people hear "Pong" whisper to them and we have to fight to make the right choice. Evil is trying to tempt us ALL THE TIME so we have to pray and fight back ALL THE TIME. Satan (Pong) is looking for any little chink in our armor.

Our family discusses this when we talk about strangers. Some people listen when Pong tells them to take and hurt children. They don't resist. They choose to sin. We pray for them too b/c they need it most. (And we stay close to Mommy!)

This made talking about the tragedy pretty simple. It was just a case of this young man listening to Pong's lies and succumbing to his suggestions. Sometimes even little kids do it when they choose to take a sibling's toy or intentionally hurt a friend. Adults do it too.

It's so, so sad that this man chose the wrong path. Murder is something that occurs pretty far down the path so we can guess that he started a while ago. Or perhaps he had a mental illness and had trouble making the right decisions. Regardless, our family is praying for the families of the vicitms, including the shooter.

Sin and evil are real but God still loves us and wants us to be happy w/ Him someday. There is hope.